Advance Auto Parts, a leading automotive retailer of parts, batteries, accessories and maintenance items has already launched its New Driver’s Education Program tagged as “Advance Your Knowledge.” The said program will serve as a tool in the education of new drivers. According to Bryan Gregory, the Director of Consumer Education for Advance Auto Parts, “[t]his kit was made to maximize students’ learning experience in driving education programs.”

The “Advance Your Knowledge” tool kit includes a compact disc equipped with the following teaching tools: easy do-it-yourself (DIY) maintenance tasks, student exercises based on Advance’s How-To Video Series, a student pretest, Getting Acquainted With Your Vehicle and Suggested Parent Involvement Activities as well as a DVD with some clips of “Advance How-To Video Clinics” among others.

The president of the Automotive Component Manufacturers’ Association (ACMA) recently acknowledged the pressure that auto makers are facing nowadays. According to him, auto makers are facing inflationary pressures caused by a rise in input costs. Aside from this, there are margin pressures as well.

"Those who depend entirely on two-wheelers have been affected the most," Labroo said in an interview to S Kalyana Ramanathan.

As for the challenges that the auto components sector are now facing, he mentioned his plans to take certain steps in order to improve the status of the secondary auto parts makers.

• Have regular oil changes in order to keep your engine in good condition.
• Regularly wash your car and wax it once in a while. This will keep the car’s chassis shiny and free from corrosion.
• Make sure to take care of any minor concerns as soon as possible. Doing so will help spare one from complications and expensive repairs later.
• It is wise to use only original auto parts to ensure their quality.

 

 

As the rapid growth of the automobile industry continues, the production of fake auto parts also increases. It is quite sad to think of. From 12% of market shares, fake auto parts now have a market of over 37-47%. The market demand for fake auto parts doubled for the past seven years. This is according to a study conducted by the Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB). The said study is endorsed by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) and apparently, the study was also able to show that India is now becoming a hotbed for the manufacture of fake auto parts that caters for car enthusiasts from all over the world.

Easy to transport components such as air filters, spark plugs and brake pads are among the favorites of counterfeit dealers since these auto parts are in high demand for consumers continue to look for cheaper options.

K K Gandhi, the executive director of SIAM, said that “it’s usually the volume players who are impacted by such malpractices. Fake auto parts reduce original manufacturers’ margins drastically, besides affecting the performance of the vehicle itself because they cause a sharp drop in fuel efficiency.”

He adds that these fake components are usually available at roadside garages and are being sold at 45-50% cheaper than the cost of its original.

Car thefts amount to more than $1 billion a year in Canada. The Insurance Bureau of Canada says that aside from this, around 40 lives are lost and 65 civilians get injured due to car theft. With the average of 160,000 vehicles that get stolen in Canada in a year, various means are being done to lower the statistics. In order to protect one’s vehicle, anti-theft devices to tracking systems can now be availed of. These devices are part of the auto security technology that has been advancing lately.

There are several kinds of tracking devices to choose from. This covers both GPS systems and cellular based systems. These devices will help one to locate one’s car when it gets stolen. As of the moment, the Boomerang Tracking Inc. is one of the leading companies that cater for auto users in need of tracking devices. They use cellular technology and two levels of tracking system. These are the Boomerang option and the Boomerang2 option. The former is a basic plan that requires one to call the company and report when one’s vehicle gets stolen. It is only then that the company will track down the vehicle. The Boomerang2 option, on the other hand, offers immediate response once the car is stolen. It features a transponder that will set an alarm to Boomerang if there seems to be an intruder in the vehicle.

“Warm-up thefts” are common in cold weather. Since the cold season is already here, it is best to do certain things to avoid having one’s car stolen. In cold weather, car owners turn on their vehicles to warm it up. While waiting for the vehicle to warm up, they go back inside the house or the office in order not to catch colds themselves. While the car owner is not around, the warm-up thieves do the robbery.

In order to prevent one’s auto from being robbed, as much as possible, one can opt not to leave the vehicle unattended. Having a well-lighted place is also another way to prevent robbery as well as having tracking systems installed on the vehicle. It has been said that a professional thief will be able to steal one’s car in about 30 seconds—even without the keys. It takes these thieves less than a minute to steal one’s car. It is for this reason that doing preventive measures such as good lighting and better security of one’s house can do a lot in keeping one’s vehicle in the garage.

Among the things that considerably affect the decision of car buyers is the vehicle’s stowage capacity. In the past, the interior stowage of a vehicle was not particularly given attention to by auto makers. As time proved that stowage indeed is a factor in buying vehicles, auto makers started to take the stowage seriously. In the past decades, vehicles have a minuscule glove box for their stowage. Nowadays, ergonomic designs of stowage started to surface in the automotive world.

Vehicle stowage is important for those who like to take long travels or for those who tend to work while they are on the go. Apparently, such kinds of people are growing in number. We are living in a fast-paced world and it seems like everyone is on the go. One almost cannot afford to have time wasted as one gets trapped in heavy traffic and the likes.

 

 

Two days ago, the Toyota Canada first introduced its 2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid. The said model is supposed to be a combination of power and efficiency. With the 2007 edition of the Toyota Camry Hybrid, the Toyota was able to grab the Canadian Car of the Year award. This year, with its 2008 edition of the Camry Hybrid, one can expect an improved to the already excellent car.

In Newswire.ca Tony Wearing, Managing Director for Toyota Canada Inc., said that "[w]e are thrilled that Canadians have embraced the Camry Hybrid…As Canadian drivers are discovering, the Camry Hybrid delivers more than just great fuel efficiency and a fraction of the tailpipe emissions of a conventional automobile. It's also big on performance thanks to smooth and powerful hybrid acceleration and Toyota's top of the line vehicle dynamics and control technologies." In fact, in the first seven months of 2007, the Camry Hybrid has almost 20% of total sales when it comes to the Canadian Camry line.

The 2008 Camry Hybrid features full electric climate control system that has dual zone control air conditioning, an air filter for the cabin equipped with germ-reducing plasma cluster, and rear seat heater ducts. It features an eight-way power adjustable driver’s seat, power windows with high solar energy-absorbing glass, engine immobilizer, and LED tail lights among others.

In the company of the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) to further put forward clean and modern diesel vehicles that can be run on renewable biodiesel fuel, the Chrysler LCC is now proposing a special discount program that will be made available to NBB members in the United States who were able to made a purchase or at least have on lease a new Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicle. This proposition has a special emphasis on the said company’s latest diesel-powered vehicles.

According to Deborah Morrissett, Vice President of Chrysler’s Regulator Affairs, "modern clean diesel offers significant improvements in fuel economy, which also means a reduction in carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions. When our diesel products are run on clean, renewable biodiesel, the environmental benefits are even greater -- at the same time we are reducing our dependence on petroleum and supporting America's farm economy."

NBB and Chrysler, teams up in the hopes of coming up with a new national fuel standard for B20. This kind of fuel is said to be composed of about 80% diesel and 20% biodiesel. They expect to come up with a standard after several months. Morrissett adds that the said B20 standard will enable Chrysler to have the B20 in all of their diesel vehicles.

By the end of this year, Dongfeng Honda will most probably start selling their imported Honda Civic hybrid in China. Mitsuru Ozaki, the General Manager of Dongfeng Honda said in a recent test drive conducted for the Civic hybrid that “we has yet to set a price target for it, but it may slot in higher than Toyota Prius sold here.” The said test drive was conducted at the northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

As of the moment, the Toyota Prius is for about 300,000 yuan or US$40,000. It is supposed that the Civic hybrid might be priced a bit higher than the Prius. Ozaki, along with the people behind Civic knows that there is a chance that Chinese consumers will walk away because of the high prize of the hybrids. Although he notes that the auto industry is really a “money-losing business.” The Civic hybrid is engineered to be environment friendly. For the love of nature and a good ride, the Chinese might consider buying one.